Happy Moon Day!

Anybody catch the premiere of Sailor Moon Crystal this morning? Did you love it as much as I did (which would be A LOT)? The episode was pretty much exactly like the first chapter of the manga with just a few minor changes, so it does seem like it's going to be Sailor Moon: Sisterhood like most people suspected. I don't mind at all! Also, Mamoru and Motoki are GORGEOUS, especially Motoki. (I want to see Helios drawn in this animation style! Please, let the show be an overwhelming success so we can eventually get the Dream Arc.) Great opening song; the ending is quite good, too. I'm not sure about the transformation sequence, because I was watching it on NicoNico as a free member and thus had to watch a low-quality stream (at least I couldn't see a way to change the quality). The video kinda got blurry when Usagi transformed, so I couldn't really judge if it looked good or not. I could tell it was fairly similar in choreography to her first transformation sequence in the old anime, though. I may rewatch a higher quality version later on Hulu or Crunchyroll. I suspect I'd be more impressed with the animation with better video, although it's certainly pretty enough even with a crappy one!

I wish we didn't have to wait two whole weeks for the next episode...

EDIT: And now we have the English dub cast announcement. It's a mixture of new and familiar voices for me. I'm really happy to see Cherami Leigh as Minako. I think she'll make a fantastic Minako! Stephanie Sheh as Usagi and Cristina Vee as Rei are also great choices. Johnny Yong Bosch as Artemis is pretty close to perfection. Nothing I've seen Michelle Ruff in really reminds me of Luna, but I think she's talented enough to pull it off. I like Todd Haberkorn for Jadeite and Patrick Seitz for Kunzite. I'm very surprised about the casting for Mamoru, though -- Robbie Daymond, in only his second anime role ever. (His first was in a movie called Patema Inverted, which I've never even heard of before.) That's a pretty big role for a rookie... All in all, I'm fairly pleased with the casting and can't wait for the first boxset to come out in November!